Towel dispensing apparatus



Feb. 5,1935I v J. A. HUNKELE 1,990,326

TOWEL DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19, 1933 #:l QM

INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1935 UNITED STYA'IZE s PATENT. OFF E roams-2c This invention relates to individual towel dispensing devices by which individual towels can be supplied successivelyto respective userswithout however permitting"their*detachment from the cabinet mechanism by the user, :thus preventing unauthorized carrying' away; mislaying or other loss of the same.

The principal object of' the provide a novel construction and arrangement of the .towelsupporting member and stringer which prevents the removal of the'towels from the dispenser while permitting .them to be freely and conveniently'used.

, "Another object of the invention is to provide novel means from which'atowel'may be drawn a sufiicientdistance from the dispenser to permit convenientuse. w

Still another object 1 of .my' invention is" to provide a novel arrangement to prevent the unau thorized use ofclean towels,if so desired. I

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed .out with particularity in the claims; but, for a'full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description'taken in connection withthe accompanying drawing,-where- Figure 1 is a perspective view ofa towel dispensing device showing the'door opened upto show part of the interior of the cleantowel compartment and as it would be 'for the purpose of loading or unloading a -stack of towels,- having part of the front of the lower compartmentbroken away. e v

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional side elevation embodying the invention, showing in full lines a towel ready for use and in dot and dash lines a towel also ready for use but farther away from the cabinet. Figure 3 is a front view on an enlarged sc'ale of the clean towel compartment, with portions broken away, the door being open. and showing the method of preventing removal of clean towels, if so desired. A 5

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the upper compartment of the dispenser, ready for use with the lower portions of the cabinet broken away.

' Figure 5 is a detail perspective 'view of the looking shield as shown in Figure 4." I

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the towel sup porting member and associated parts.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the rear end portion of the tubular member'containing the pull-rod and spring. I I

invention is to Figure 8 is a perspective .view of the rear end portionof the-towel supporting member.

Figure 9 is an end view of Figure 6. .Figure 10 is aperspective:view showing the means "of locking theretaining rod in the lower 5.

compartment of the cabinet.

Figure: 11 is a vertical sectional view taken, along and near the hinged side of the door open-' ing in Figure 3. v

In general; the 'apparatuscomprises a cabinet 10 11 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and is preferably made in two separate sections, the upper section 12, forming-a compartment-for hangingclean towels, and a lower section 13, forming a compartment for holding soiled towels. Said upper section 12 is provided with a hinged top cover 14 and a hinged front door 15 for closing-the latter and'for convenient opening to permit access to the interior of the cabinet. q A I As shownin Figure 2 a series of clean towels 0 16 are provided and having gromets 1'7 near one endandatthe middle of theitowel's and a tubular towelsupporting member, 18 isinserted through said gromets to string the towels thereon.

This towel supporting member 18 is detachablysecured .to: the middle portion of the rear wall- 19 of the clean towel. compartment by means of a forked wall-platev 20 and the free end of said towellsupporting member 18 extends to the bottomyof the soiled towel compartmentand is inserted into a suitable fastening and locking means, such as shown in Figure 10. w I

' In Figures '6, 7,18 and 9 I. have shown detailed views of the towel supporting member 18 and the towel retaining rod 21. The towel supporting member consists of a tubular outer member 22 provided'at its rear end with'a pair of oppositely disposed short slots 23 for the reception of the holding lug 24 which'is pivotally fixed to the rearend of the tubularpull-rod container 25 as illustrated in Figure '7. The foremost ends of said outer member 22 and thepull-rod cone tainer 25 are turned inwardly as indicated by the numerals 26 and 27. I

The portionof the towel retaining rod 21 is permanently and rigidly attached tothe pullrod 28. This pull-rod 28 is of a smaller crosssection than said retaining rod 21 and the extreme rear. end thereof is provided with an enlarged head 29which retains the compression coil spring 30 within the pull-rod container 25. C

The forward end of the towel retaining rod 21 'is "bent forwardly along a gradual curve as indicated at 31 and then bent downwardly and rearwardly as at 32 and down into the lower support within said outer tubular support, a towel retaining rod having a part coaxially disposed and slidable and rotatable within said tubular supports and means to retract said part of the towel retaining rod within said inner tubular support.

3. In a device for supporting towels and the like having a gromet, an outer tubular support adapted to be engaged by said gromets, an inner tubular support within said outer tubular support, means hingedly mounted in said inner tubular support to prevent the rotation thereof with the outer tubular support, a towel retaining rod having a part coaxially disposed and slidable and rotatable within said tubular supports and means to retract part of the towel retaining rod within said inner tubular support.

4. In a device for supporting towels and the like having a gromet, an outer tubular support adapted tov be engaged by said gromets, an inner tubular support within said outer tubular support, means hingedly mounted in said inner support to prevent the rotation thereof with the outer tubular support, a, towel retaining rod having a part coaxially disposed and slidable and rotatable within said tubular supports and comprising a reduced extension extending within said inner tubular support, a spring element surrounding said reduced extension and an abutment knob for said spring element on the end of said reduced extension.

5. In combination with a cabinet for dispensing towels provided with an opening for inserting and extracting towels, a lockable door for said opening of lesser height than said opening adapted to provide at the bottom thereof a slot for dispensing towels; a towel support; means within said cabinet adapted toprevent removal of towels from said towel support and through said dispensing slot, said means, comprising a pivotally mounted, depending shield having an enlarged free end which is provided with a slot adapted to surround said towel support when in 20 locked position and means to retain said shield in locked position.

JACOB A. HUNKELE. 

